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Pique, the Barcelona centre-back, has been the frontman driving the new week-long Davis Cup proposals, which were approved by a two-thirds majority at a meeting of the International Tennis Federation’s member nations a fortnight ago.

The last week of November was originally suggested as the best time to host Pique’s 18-team showdown, which his investment group Kosmos have pledged to support with an extraordinary $3 billion (£2.3 billion) of funding over the next 25 years.

But in an interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro last week, Pique suggested September might be a better time to hold the new finals week.

In a hugely congested tennis calendar, this comment represented an act of aggression, because a ­September Davis Cup would ­directly challenge Federer’s pet project, the Laver Cup.

Such was the context for Federer’s comments on Tuesday, which he made after despatching Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka 6-2, 6-2, 6-4.

“The good part of all this confusion is that everyone will have to sit around one table and listen to the other’s desires,” said Federer. “The ITF, the Association of Tennis Professionals, the Laver Cup. It is true that the coming weeks may be very interesting.

“I have not spoken to Gerard Pique yet, but I admit that it’s a bit odd to see a footballer arrive and meddle in the tennis business. Be careful: the Davis Cup should not become the Pique Cup. I am globally for innovations: our sport needs to think a little outside the box to innovate. But it’s a bit like in a part of Jenga, you have to be careful not to remove the room that will bring down the whole building.”

This was a canny comment, clearly made as a deliberate challenge to Kosmos, which underlining tennis’ status as a game full of interlocking interests.

Yet few games of Jenga are played with such fear, loathing and toxicity as we saw at the ITF annual general meeting in Orlando a couple of weeks ago.

Pique was at the heart of events there, posing for selfies with star-struck representatives from the lesser nations. He is also understood to have flown in a delegate from Spain on his own private jet for the Davis Cup vote.

Now it seems this ongoing debate is developing into a showdown ­between two high-profile athletes. The Laver Cup recently announced next year’s instalment will be staged in Geneva from Sept 20 to 22. Pique is understood to have promised the Royal Spanish Tennis Federation that Madrid will host the first Davis Cup, but no-one is sure when the event will happen.

Federer had better hope the outcome of this tug of war is not decided on social media, as his 5.2 million Instagram followers are dwarfed by Pique’s 16.7 million. But the footballer may not have things all his own way. The ATP’s player council, which is chaired by Novak Djokovic and also features Jamie Murray, has shown little enthusiasm for the new Davis Cup to date.